Large windmills are used to harvest wind power. While they are practical for large scale energy generation, they are not suitable for small scale use such as in houses, buildings, cars, or remote sensors. They can also be fragile if they are made on meter or centimeter scales.
Current micro-windmills have limitations. One limitation is that some of these micro-windmills cannot be actuated with air flow. Another limitation is that some of these micro-windmills are not oriented in a way so as to be robust under wind pressure that will generally be applied. For example, these micro-windmills are vertically oriented. Still another limitation is that some of these micro-windmills are made out of materials that are too brittle for certain applications. For example, these micro-windmills are made out of polysilicon and silicon dioxide sacrificial layers. A polysilicon layer with a thickness, for example of one micrometer, is fragile and may not survive under wind pressure that is generally applied.